Hide and Seek
by meekobuggy
Summary: Agent Afloat Series: Part 1; Set during Season 8 of NCIS, Ziva meets a fascinating man on her assignment in Miami. Rated PG mostly, M in later chapters and indicated on chapter title.
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHORS NOTE:** This is a repost of the first story that we wrote together. It was previously posted under the username _meekobb_ but has been removed and added to our joint account. This story is the first of a 3 part series we refer to as _Agent Afloat Series_. Our story, _Broken Bird_, was loosely based on this as a 'reversed' version. If you like what we write, we encourage you to leave reviews and feedback. A few kind words do go a long way! Thank you!

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><p>Ever since returning from Miami, Ziva had been communicating with her mysterious friend through email. Sometimes it took him as long as a week to respond but from what she was able to learn of his job, it was to be expected. He explained just enough to her that she shouldn't worry during long periods of silence as he is often out of reach and can only get to internet access for so often but promised to always call her when he made it back to the states. With that she figured on her own for black ops and questioned no further.<p>

He had been fascinated by the brunette, Ziva, he met during his surfing vacation in Miami. The SGC had pulled him back to Earth for some mandatory R&R and he, for once and thanks to her, didn't mind this time. He wished he could be as open as his job as she was, but apart from saying that he was a pilot, saved lives for a living and that he was often out of the country, the only thing he could say that his job was awesome. She had to leave earlier than he had to, but he promised her to keep in touch with her and the first few weeks kept in touch with text messages and emails from his hotel room.

Returning to DC was a sad occasion. Between Paloma and Gibbs, she'd been busy. Ziva often checked her phone and email for messages and as promised there would be a little note here and there. It wasn't much, as even John didn't say much in Miami, but it was a comfortable silence that was warming. Now if she could get Tony off her back from questioning her time on the trip.

"You look particularly glowy, Ziva." Tony said when he walked into the bullpen.

Ziva looked at him and narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?" she questioned.

"Sunkissed." he grinned. "How was your vacation?"

"I was working, Tony. It was _not_a vacation."

"Oh come on, you can't tell me that you didn't have any fun besides work." he put his feet up on his desk and took a sip of his coffee. "Miami... beaches... sun... hot girls... well hot men in your case..." he mused.

She grinned over at him. "I could be into girls. You never know. In any case, I was focused on the assignment and didn't go out really until the last night before the flight."

"Boring." Tony shook his head. "I would have found a nice balance between work and play, it's Miami after all!"

Ziva shrugged and went on with her work. A small smile floated to her lips when she noticed she had an email waiting. Opening it, she quickly sent her reply before Tony got too curious for his own good.

"Oh, did you meet someone interesting?" Tony grinned, got up and made his way over to Ziva's desk.

"Why would you ask that? Jealous maybe?" she said with a smile as she continued on reading her email.

"No, not jealous, just looking out for you, I know the type of guys that walk around in Miami." Tony tried to look over her shoulder. "Frat boys."

Ziva let out a sigh and rolled her eyes. Thankfully Gibbs had just walked in and looked to be in another foul mood so she was relatively safe from Tony's games for the day.

"Are those tanlines?"

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs bellowed.

She shot Gibbs a grateful look as she tried to get back to work and following up on her missed messages. "What have I missed?" she asked getting down to business.

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><p>"Are you even here?" Rodney's whining voice interrupted his train of thought.<p>

"Of course, Rodney." John rolled his eyes and sighed. "I'm just still on Earth time you know, getting a teleport out of my hotel room to the Hammond, which beams me to the SGC, followed by gate travel..." he played with his food. Compared to what he recently had, this was crap.

Rodney shook his head. "You better be here and not thinking about some beach bimbo that you Kirked your way to bed with. I need you to focus in the chair room today. We have a lot of important tests that need to be done!"

"There's always Carson and I didn't 'kirk' anyone." he glared. "And if I did, she wasn't a beach bimbo."

"Ah! So you did meet someone! Was she blond at least?" he asked shoving a mouthful of his sandwich into his mouth.

Teyla had about enough of his badgering by that point. "Rodney, let him be. If he wanted to talk about this woman with us yet, he will when he is ready," she said offering John a smile.

Ronon was more with McKay this time after having met his ex-wife. "Was she hot?" Succinct.

He rolled his eyes. "Thanks Teyla." he prodded in his potato salad and looked at Ronon. "Maybe."  
>Chewy didn't look satisfied and stared at Rodney until the pudgy scientist left.<p>

"Fine! I want details later," he grumbled as he grabbed his sandwich and John's pudding cup and went out shouting at Zelenka on the radio.

"I can't believe he took my pudding!" John complained. "The best thing on my tray!"

If it meant Teyla would get to hear about the mysterious woman that finally captured her friend's attention, she happily sacrificed her pudding cup to the cause and passed it over. "Can we hear about her?" she asked softly.

"She's nice." he nodded and dug into his pudding. "Thanks for the pudding." he smiled. "She's fascinating." he added.

"That's it?" Ronon asked raised his eyebrows in skepticism.

"Alright, you get one question." Sheppard offered. "Ask wisely."

Ronon and Teyla looked at each other as if communicating silently. "What does she do?"

"She works for NCIS." he grinned, knowing fully well that both Teyla and Ronon didn't understand a word he just said.

Teyla was confused. "What is NCIS?" she asked knowing that if John didn't answer she could always speak to Major Lorne or one of the other military personnel.

"One question. You asked, I answered." he shrugged, picked up his tray and grinned. "I'd better go and help Rodney before he decides to blow up my shower."

The two looked at each other again and as soon as John was out of the mess hall, they went in search of Major Lorne to get more information. Maybe he would also be able to find out more about the mysterious girl through his Earth contacts. The rumor mill and betting pools were about to come back to life.


	2. Chapter 2

_Goodmorning, Ziva,_

One last email before I go back to work. Had fun surfing, the waves were amazing. I'm a little bit sun burnt though and could use a shave. I'm sure my CO would make me shave if I'd show up looking like this!

I went to the golf course yesterday. I do have my golf utensils at work, but I rarely get a good game, as I'm usually busy and my work place isn't really land-friendly.

Next time I'm on leave, I'll take you out to dinner, restaurant of your choice. Even if we spend our time in silence (I'm sorry), I feel some sort of peace when I'm with you.

Have a good day,  
>John.<p>

_**(author note: you can see the attached photo linked on our profile page.)**_

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><p><em>Dear John,<em>

I can't believe how horrible that sounds. Just 'Dear John'... Anyway, work is ongoing here and my partner has been driving me up the wall asking questions and digging into things that he has no business in. But he's like a brother to me and has saved me on more than one occasion. I hope all is well where you are stationed. I do worry for you and think of you often. Dinner sounds wonderful and I will wait patiently for when you return. If you are not in the DC area, let me know where and I may fly out to meet you. I could use an actual vacation from here.

That picture makes me laugh. I will have to set it for your photo on my phone for you. It reminds me of that spiny animal, porcupig? I forget. My last trip to Israel has reverted my American idioms according to Tony - the idiot partner. I have to go, he's getting nosey again. Talk soon!

Ziva.


	3. Chapter 3

A lot of the personnel around Atlantis had been talking about the new woman and if Colonel Sheppard would find a way to bring her to Atlantis. Everyone wanted to know about her because they all knew just how much the man isolated himself from his own needs.

Richard Woolsey wanted no part in the talks and had ordered the control room staff to cease their talking about the rumors - as if that worked. As soon as he went back into his office they were right back to trying to figure out who and what the woman did to make John Sheppard, Captain Kirk of the Pegasus Galaxy, so distracted from his routines.

They had just returned from their mission to M75-432 which was a complete bust in light of their mission. It was more or less a safe scientific area with friendly locals rather than having anything of value and/or tradeable. Rodney wasn't pleased to say the least. John was just happy that for once, they didn't get shot at.

Rumors had been going around in the galaxy (according to Teyla's sources) that the Wraith were extremely pissed and working double time to re-increase their numbers. One of the teams had already encountered a few of the Wraith 2.0 and they had only barely managed to escape them. It was as if they had become smarter and reinvented themselves.

"Can we get another question?" Teyla asked as they were in the armory getting rid of their equipment.

"Nope." John shook his head, fully aware of the betting pools of Atlantis.

"Fine, I'll hack into your email account then," Rodney replied.

"If you do that, Rodney, I will break your hands."

"You wouldn't!"

"Watch me."

"Then just give us more information! Come on Sheppard! We're dying here!" the man begged. Whenever Meredith Rodney McKay begged, it wasn't a pretty sight.

"Why?" he smirked. "Because I finally have a thing that I won't share with you? Teyla kept Kanaan a secret for a long time before she even admitted dating him. I come back from Earth and you just know I met someone." he shook his head. "Stop asking."

Rodney scoffed. "Please. We all knew about Kanaan but you because you didn't want to see it. You finally put two and two together when she told you she was knocked up!"  
>"Too bad," he shrugged.<p>

"Well, when are you going back to Earth?" Ronon asked, focusing on Sheppard rather than his girlfriend.

"Whenever Woolsey kicks me off Atlantis again."

McKay made a face, "So you're telling us that you're going to have an email relationship with this chick and not even make an attempt to see her again? You're an idiot!"

"She knows I'm away a lot," he started. "Besides, it's a bit weird to request leave because I want to get to know her better."

"It's called _personal leave_ for a reason. You _don't_ have to give them a reason why you want off. You probably have leave time banked to take the next _year_ off!"

"Probably," he shrugged. "What? You hate me so much you want me to take the year off?"

Teyla spoke up then for having been silent. "No John, but we see that you need some time for yourself. Get to know this girl. Maybe she might even be good enough to suggest to the SGC to be read into the program so that you don't have to lie to her. You said she works for NCIS. I spoke to Stackhouse about it and from what I understand she just might have enough clearance to be considered."

"NCIS? SHE'S A NAVY COP!" McKay ranted. He started going on about one thing after another that had no relation to the topic that Sheppard just tuned him out and turned his attention to Teyla and Ronon.

"And then what, Teyla? Have a long distance relationship?" he shook his head. "I'm already bad at relationships, Ronon's met my ex-wife, he can confirm that she was bitter." he continued. "Besides, I'm still trying to think about this myself, maybe she'll be just a friend, or maybe a bit more."

Sighing she looked up at him. "How can she be more if you don't try to work something out so that you can be honest with one another? Will you build your relationship on lies?"

"I haven't lied to her yet, Teyla. I just said I was out of the country for long periods of time, and disconnected from the internet for short periods. I told her I was a pilot, that I have a job that requires me to save lives and that it's the best job in the world, all of which aren't lies."

"No they aren't, but when will it become the lie? All you have to do is talk to your General Landry. He seemed open and fair when I met him last year," she insisted.

"Yeah... whatever," he said and headed for his quarters.

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><p>"Ziva, Ziva, Ziva..." Tony shook his head as he sat down at his desk. "What's the name of that friend of yours?"<p>

"Why do you want to know?" she sighed wishing he would just lay off the subject.

"Your last special friend ended up being a serial killer."

Ziva rolled her eyes at him. "That was an undercover assignment." Of course, he was likely talking about Michael.

"Okay, fine, then don't tell me his name. What does he do?" he said, taking a bite from his breakfast burrito.

"If you must know, he is a pilot," she replied sitting back down at her desk with pride.

"Wow, a pilot huh?" he mocked appreciation. "Joined the mile high club yet?"

She smiled at him wickedly. "I've been a long time member Tony. I happen to know that you - are not!"

"Ouch." McGee laughed.

"Shut it, McMountie."

"Well Tony, if you must know, I too am a member of the mile high club," he smiled proudly. "What's keeping you?"

Tony didn't have anything to say to that. He just stared wide eyed and open mouthed at the younger agent.

"Close your mouth DiNozzo unless you plan on catching some flies," Gibbs said as he strolled into the bullpen. "Everyone up in MTAC in 10 minutes," he ordered as he grabbed his coffee and ran up the stairs to the Director's office.

"Does he make you happy, Ziva?" McGee asked, unfazed by Gibbs' order as they still had about 8 minutes before they had to head up to MTAC.

Ziva looked at him, unsure of what to say at first. "He is a good man," she replied with a smile and appreciative nod.

"Good." he smiled. "You deserve it."

Abby ran into the bullpen and hugged Ziva. "I'm so happy for you!" she squeaked. "I love that picture of him that you showed me."

"What?" Tony said hurt. "You have a picture of him?"

"Yes," she said. "And you may not see it."

Abby grinned. "Are we still on for lunch tomorrow, Ziva?"

Ziva nodded. "Yes, as long as nothing comes up. We have to head up to MTAC now so you never know."

Abby hugged Ziva again. "He's a hottie." she whispered in her ear. "And a keeper!" she giggled and skipped her way out of the bullpen.

Tony stared at Ziva with his usual mask on as he slammed his desk drawer shut and headed up the stairs without another word. McGee simply shrugged and followed, winking his support to his friend as he passed.

She sighed not sure of how to deal with Tony. Their relationship was always rocky, especially once Michael came into the picture but they needed to press forward and move on. She was trying to do just that but he couldn't seem to let go the unshared feelings.


	4. Chapter 4

_Ziva,_

_My co-workers are driving me mad. They know about my 'fabulous' communication skills and my poor taste of friends (long story, but it involves some guy with a vampire fetish)._

_There's Rodney who likes to use me for his little experiments, Teyla who's not really digging deep into my personal life, and Ronon, who had a sheltered life and our last conversation was about the Playboy. Yes, I work with a very diverse group of people._

_They keep encouraging me to ask for some personal leave as I've logged enough hours to do so, and since it's quite a quiet time around here, I might as well just do that._

_Do you know any good hotels in DC?_

_John._

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><p><em>Ziva,<em>

_I'm a jerk, with the social skills of a llama and the relationship track record of a monk, although my co-workers refer to me as "kirk" for reasons I don't understand._

_John._

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><p><em>Ziva,<em>

_I'm afraid Rodney sent off an email to you. I will tie him up and hang him from my aircraft for a while as punishment._

_~ John._

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><p><em>John,<em>

_I completely understand about co-workers. I had to have one of my teammates put additional security and alarms on my computer to keep my partner from getting on to read my emails from you. To be honest with you, I was surprised at the first message and my first thought was that you could have stayed with me instead of a hotel. My new apartment has two spare rooms. Much too much space for me, but the Navy helped me find it when I returned from Israel._

_Don't be so hard on your friends. I am trying not to be here either. I myself do not have a successful tract record with relationships. The first man I was ever truly interested in died before I got to know him. I still wear the orange cap he gave me when I go running and think of him everytime I pass the area of the riverside where I first saw him. The other two serious relationships I had also did not end well._

_My friends ask me questions about you. I only shared some information with Abby. I think you would like her. She's how do you say...sponky? McGee, Tim rather, hasn't asked much and has left me to share what I want as I want to. Tony has been pestering me nonstop! He even asked if I joined the mile high club with you when I said that you were a pilot!_

_If you do think about coming to DC, I do have a room where you can stay. I would be happy to see you again._

_Ziva._

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><p><em>Hey Ziva,<em>

_In order to stop the betting pools here at my job, my CO (who has a PhD rather than a rank) is kicking me back to the States for a while. Apparently, me having email contact with a woman is something special around the base._

_Which is fine. If I'm right, there's snow in Vermont. Would you like to go on a skiing trip when I'm in return? I can't actually tell you the exact date as of yet, as I'm about to head out on a mission that's potentially dangerous._

_Your co-workers sound like nice people, crazy like mine! I actually didn't suspend Rodney from my aircraft, instead I just threatened to spike his coffee with lemon juice (he's morally allergic to citrus fruits) and he apologized immediately._

_I have to go, the window of internet access is closing. I will call you once I am back in the States._

_Looking forward to seeing you again,_  
><em>John.<em>


	5. Chapter 5

Two weeks, some gate travel, medical clearance and a plane trip to DC later, he found himself at the airport. It was a beautiful day out and the car he rented was awesome, typical male car - a smoking red convertible. He had only packed some of his civilian clothes in one simple bag and knew that if he needed anything else, like skiing equipment, he'd just buy it.

He knew it was far too early for Ziva to be done with work so he spent most of his day driving around through Washington, liking the slow pace of the 'normal world'. At 4 pm he parked his car downtown DC and went to a Starbucks to get some coffee. He flipped open his phone and sent a text message to Ziva.

_Surprise! I'm in DC. - John_

Tony and Ziva were on their way back, with McGee, from transporting their prisoner to Metro PD as they were now taking over the case as part of the deal they made with Gibbs so that he had control of the investigation. When her cell phone went off and the surprised look on her face caught her partner's attention, she knew it was going to be a long ride back to the Naval yard.

"Mystery boyfriend?" Tony quipped.

Snapping her phone shut, Ziva looked out the window. "He is not my boyfriend," she replied with a smile in her eyes.

"Well at least you've progressed from emails to texting," Tony shrugged. "Or is it sexting?"

"No it is not sexing," she said. "He is just telling me that he is back in the States."

"Oh Ziva... Ziva... Ziva..." Tony grinned. "How do you know he's not having a double life? With a wife and kid somewhere?"

Rolling her eyes Ziva looked over at him. "That would be kind of difficult to do in the Air Force," she snapped.

"Oh, a pilot!" Tony mused. "Nice catch!"

"Tony, do you really have to be so infantile?" McGee started. "No wait, never mind, it's YOU we're talking about."

Ziva turned in her seat and looked at Tim. "Didn't I say he was a pilot already?" she asked. "I could swear I did when he questioned me two weeks ago about him!"

McGee nodded. "But forgive Tony, he's getting old, his memory must be slipping," he deadpanned.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny McChuckles. You should take that on the road. Make more money off of us instead of just writing about the infamous adventure of LJ Tibbs!"

"You know what, Tony? I might as well do that!" he smiled widely.

Suddenly the car stopped. Of course, Gibbs was driving, and his road antics were well known, but their silent leader apparently had enough. "This is your stop, Tony, get out." he said, pointing at the building of the local Kindergarten.

Tony simmered down and pouted in the back seat like the child that Gibbs just implied him to be. "I'm sorry but the last time Ziva kept her boyfriend a secret from us, I broke my shoulder and you and McGee here nearly got blown up! Oh! And did I fail to mention the sandy prison that we went to to get her back?"

"Yeah well, don't you think that Ziva has learned from her mistakes? I mean what could go wrong with an Air Force pilot?" McGee shrugged and tried not to throw up when Gibbs accelerated.

"I really wish you all would drop Michael and forget about him," Ziva growled. "Gibbs, can you let me out here? I'll take a cab back to the office."

Gibbs hit the breaks. "Have fun."

She got out feeling relieved. "Thank you Gibbs," she said as she opened the door. Tony stared out the window at her in shock at her request as their boss drove away, leaving her on the side of the beltway.

As the car disappeared into traffic, she went to rest against the highway guard rail. Taking out her phone, she debated on whether to call or text John, settling on a text message.

_Hi :) How are you enjoying DC so far? ~Ziva_

He took a sip of his what was it? Third coffee? And smiled when his phone beeped.

_Drove around a bit, am currently downtown enjoying good coffee, I miss good coffee. - John_

_LOL yes there are many good shops around. Do you have plans at the moment? ~Ziva_

_Well, you never did tell me about a good hotel so I'm still waiting for that answer. - John_

_You can still stay in my spare room. I had my boss leave me on the road because I could not tolerate my teammate anymore so if you are willing... ~Ziva_

_Of course! What road? - John_

_Actually, the highway. I'm stranded on the Beltway North along 295 ~Ziva_

On my way, saving people is what I do! - John

Thank you. I will treat you to dinner today. I know a great place to order in from :) ~Ziva

He paid for his coffee and bought a map on his way to the car, not sure if he should buy her flowers, but he bought a nice sun-inspired bouquet anyway. Tossing that on the backseat, he planned a route out of the city towards the Beltway and drove.

Ziva stayed where she was and just simply enjoyed the air and sun, despite being on a major highway. It was about a half hour or so after her last text from John that a very sleek looking convertible pulled off the highway and onto the shoulder where she waited.

If greenish cargo pants and a tight fitting shirt was standard issue NCIS clothing he'd LOVE to work there for a living. Sure, the last time he saw Ziva was on a beach and she had a skirt on then, but she looked great. "Hi," he grinned and got out of the car to open the door for her.

"Hello to you too," she replied trying to not make it obvious that she certainly appreciated his appearance. While he looked great in swim trunks, she definitely enjoyed him in casual jeans and a button down shirt. "Enjoying the sunny day?"

"Oh you know the rules of vacations; when it's sunny, rent the most awesome car they have," he laughed.

Ziva chuckled as she secured her seat belt. "Yes but I doubt it will be appropriate for skiing," she replied. "Do you still want to go? I'm sure I can get tomorrow off as we just closed our case today."

"Of course I still want to go." he smiled widely and got back into the car. He reached onto the back seat and handed her the bundle of flowers. "For you, because you're letting me crash in your place, and because you look beautiful."

Her smile was infectious as she accepted the gorgeous flowers. "Thank you, but that was not necessary," she said before smelling them briefly. She went on to tell him the directions back to her apartment and dialed Gibbs as he drove. As expected, he had no problem giving her the day and would make do with the guys until she got back if anything happened.


	6. Chapter 6

John blinked when Ziva suggested they'd watch _Wormhole X-treme_ the movie, he never figured she liked science fiction movies. Ten minutes in, he just couldn't contain his laughter. "This is so bad."

"What?" she asked laughing with him as she threw popcorn at his head which got stuck in the mess of unruly hair of his. "I like it. Don't make fun!"

"I'm not, I'm just saying it's bad," he chuckled. "I mean... the acting is even worse," he nodded. "Starship Troopers was a better movie, and even that sucked."

Ziva shrugged. "Well I like to think I could just walk through something and be somewhere else sometimes. Somewhere far away from here. Don't get me wrong, I love my team. They are my family but I'd like to be able to experience something new," she said as she turned back to the movie.

"Alright, well I suppose that the idea of this movie is somewhat appealing." he nodded.

Looking up at the clock, she sighed and pushed herself off the couch. "We should get ready for bed. Our flight leaves early in the morning," she said as she went down the hall to get towels out of the linen closet. "Here you go. The shower is just in here," she added going into the bathroom just off the living room to put the large fluffy towel on the sink for him. "If you need anything else, just let me know."

He nodded, he was far from being tired, but unlike himself, Ziva had worked today and was probably pooped. "Thanks for letting me stay here."

"Anytime," she smiled up at him, feeling a sense of warmth come over her.

He softly planted a kiss on her cheek. "Goodnight."

She turned to look at him after his kiss and blinked. "Goodnight," she whispered, before carefully making her way back to her room to get ready herself and finish packing her bag until he was done with the shower for her own turn.

He really liked Ziva, there was this unspoken thing between them and it was comforting and frightening at the same time. When he was done showering, he realized he had forgotten to bring a shirt from this bag in the other room, but was glad that he did bring his sweatpants, she had seen him in his swimming trunks, no big deal. He almost bumped into Ziva when he exited the bathroom. "Sorry."

Something about this run in was strangely intimate. When John was on the beach it was one thing, but here, in her apartment... "Sorry," she replied, her cheeks flushing with crimson. "I erm was just going to get myself a fresh towel..."

"Sorry," he said again, "It must be weird for you to deal with someone else in your apartment."

"Um, not really," Ziva said tucking her hair behind her ear but not elaborating further. Michael stayed with her every time he was in the area but that was then and she did not wish to dwell on such painful memories. "Do you need anything else?"

"Nah, I'm good." he smiled widely and made his way towards Ziva's spare room. _Christ John, do you really think this is a good idea?_ he thought and hopped onto the bed.

Ziva let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. Thankfully, John had closed his door so he couldn't see her come close to hyperventilating. He was the first man in a long while that she let get this close to her outside of the team. Once she was composed again, she went about taking her shower and returned to her room. Sleep did not come easily and she could not help but think of that man just a few doors down the hall.

He was up early the following morning and started to make breakfast for the both of them as he was bored and hadn't been able to sleep since 4 am, and he was sure Ziva wouldn't mind if he'd nose around in the kitchen. He switched on the coffee pot and started to make eggs.

Ziva stirred in bed and looked over at her clock. The alarm hadn't gone off yet and she could smell the aroma of fresh coffee. Moaning as she stretched, she sat up sleepily and tried to place what was going on. Remembering John, she cursed to herself and went to throw on a robe around her. Making her way out to the kitchen she was surprised to see him at the stove.

"Good morning," she yawned as she went to start the tea kettle. "You didn't have to make breakfast."

"Good morning," he replied and smiled. "And yes, breakfast," John nodded. "You'll have to indulge me, I rarely am able to cook something decent when I'm out of the country." She looked adorable with her hair all messed up.

She narrowed her eyes at him playfully as she stole a slice of toast that just popped then. "One day I will get you to tell me what you do exactly," she teased.

"One day, I might." he nodded and chuckled.

As they went about having their breakfast and getting ready for their trip, their conversations flowed easily as their banter. Ziva shared more stories about her teammates and antics that they've been through. The laughter didn't end at her apartment either. It continued the entire trip to the airport and right into their neighboring seats in the first class cabin for their flight north.

"So then Rodney disturbed this holy thing at the settlement." he grinned. "The locals picked him up and threw him in the water, making him float down stream between crocodiles, he wasn't happy." Of course, in his head, the locals were actually afraid of Rodney (and the rest of the team), somehow managed to overpower them and they did toss Rodney in the river, but he ended up at a Wraith camp, which wasn't that great.

"That is just - wow!" she said completely enthralled by his stories. "You must have quite an adventure wherever you're based." It wasn't long that the pilot announced that they would be landing soon. The exchanges had certainly helped pass the time - even if the stewardess continued to flirt with John almost the entire flight.

He shrugged. "Sometimes I do long for the normal type of jobs, I spent almost a year flying in Antarctica, mind numbing, but for some reason very peaceful at the same time."

The rest of the short trip was spent in comfortable silence. Ziva however, was beginning to feel a little territorial whenever the stewardess paid extra close attention to John's needs. Much so to the point that Ziva made a not so obvious gesture of holding his hand and resting her head on his shoulder.

John, of course, was oblivious to the extra attention the stewardess had given him and when they were at the airport and gathering their belongings from the luggage belt, he grinned at Ziva, who looked slightly annoyed. "Hey, stop frowning," he said, "It would be a shame if your face would freeze into place like that for the rest of your life."

"It just bugs me when people are so … so..." she couldn't even think of the word she wanted. If she could have, she would have shoved the woman out the door while the plane was still in the air. Which was also unexpected because she wasn't usually a jealous person herself.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." he thought for a minute and laughed. "Stewardesses are supposed to make you comfortable on the plane, you know."

Ziva gave him a look. "_She_ would have been just as happy to fluff more than your pillow for you."

"You..." he placed his hands on her shoulders and gently squeezed them. "Need to relax, we're going skiing for the weekend, no stupid co-workers, just us, having fun."

She looked at him and breathed out nodding. "You're right. Let's go," she replied. Thankful for the wheels on her bag, she was able to drag it behind her allowing her free arm to wrap around his in case anyone else felt the need to interrupt them again.

He walked to the car rental service and picked out an SUV. He was sure that the resort they were going to would have rental ski's and all they needed to do was head in to town to buy their equipment. "So, you want to get our equipment first or do you want to go to the resort? I've been there before, it's awesome."

"Let's drop our bags off first that way I could also change into something a little more appropriate for the weather," she said rubbing her hands together. Winters in DC are never _this_ cold.

John chuckled when he put their bags in the back of the SUV and helped her inside the car. He then turned up the heat the moment he started to drive. "It's not that ridiculously cold, I went to Antarctica!"

Ziva scoffed. "Tell that to someone who isn't from a desert country," she replied as she nearly face-planted herself in front of the blower for heat.

He started to laugh. "I think it's cute."

She turned to look at him and stuck her tongue out. "Alright let's go. I need to get another layer on at least for the slopes."

"I still have to buy appropriate skiing gear." he noted. "I travel light, remember?"

"Don't they rent equipment at the lodge?"

"Yes, but I hate rented clothes," he said making a face.

Ziva shrugged and settled back in the seat as he drove. She mostly looked out the window or at him, wondering more about the man. Occasionally, she pointed out some sights that she found interesting or scenic areas that were simply gorgeous with the freshly fallen snow.

It was great to see some snow again. For some reason, they rarely encountered snow in the Pegasus galaxy. This was going to be one heck of a skiing trip. The Lodge they were going to stay at was part of Stowe's Mountain Resort, and the rooms were awesome and he just knew that Ziva would love to spend some time at the Spa.

After all the shopping for necessities was done and they got to their room, Ziva sighed and dropped the bags she held in the middle of the room. Just the environment was very relaxing for her and truthfully, she would be just as entertained by curling up to the fire with a good book rather than hitting the slopes. She went to see what kind of refreshments that were left in the small kitchen as John came in with his bags. "I don't see the point in unpacking if we're staying for just two nights," she replied finding a bottle of wine.

"Then don't." he replied. "This weekend is all about relaxation for the both of us," he nodded. Sure, he had spent a night in the infirmary because Carson was afraid he had a concussion from being thrown around on their last mission, despite John insisting that he didn't hit his head and that Ronon had stunned most of the angry villagers. But he hardly called the infirmary 'relaxing'.

"Wine?" she asked as she looked in the cabinet for glasses. It might be just the thing for them to unwind and open themselves to each other a little more.

"Sure, why not." he shrugged and went to set the logs of the fireplace on fire.

"Do you want to stay in tonight and we can do the skiing all day tomorrow?" she asked as she brought over the bottle and glasses to the sitting area. "Even though it wasn't a long flight, it was still a little busy of a day for travel."

"Sure, whatever you want," he smiled widely. He took over the bottle and uncorked it, then poured them their glasses.

Ziva sat back on the sofa and sighed as she watched the fire flicker to life. "This is nice," she said sipping her glass. She turned to him and smiled, surprised to find him staring at her intently. "Something wrong? Do I have something in my hair?" she asked immediately reaching up to feel if maybe a leaf or twig got stuck when she walked under the tree outside the lodge.

"How come you're so gorgeous?" he blatantly asked. He was never good at flirting, and he had no idea why he tried with Ziva, but it felt the right thing to do. He always felt uneasy around women, was usually oblivious to their actions (like the stewardess on the plane) but he was fully aware of what Ziva and her presence was doing to him.

Blushing, she glanced away before turning back. "I suppose it might be the same reason why you're so endearing and so warm to be around," she said softly. With the wine and the light from the fire dancing in the room, the ambiance was a romantic one. While intentioned, it was there and neither one could ignore it.

"Now those two words have never been associated with me," he chuckled and took a sip of his wine. He knew he had to be careful with drinking alcohol; despite the fact that they did have alcohol sometimes on Atlantis, he could never really drink as much as he used to drink before without getting wasted. He thoroughly enjoyed the couple of days in Miami with her (despite her being mostly working but she always managed to find him surfing), and it felt as if he knew her longer than was actually reality.

"But you are, and more," she insisted as she reached out to cup his face.

"You know, I might as well just kiss you," he grinned and moved in to kiss her gently on the lips.

She broke out into a grin herself at the chaste kiss. Ziva was never one to be truly shy and canted her head, "I'm sure you could do better than that..."

He turned around to face her properly and gently stroked her left cheek with the back of his hand. "Is that a dare?" he smiled widely.

"No," she whispered as she looked into his green eyes. "It's a request."

"How can I deny a gorgeous woman who requests something like a proper kiss?" he shrugged a little and started to kiss her again, first softly on her lips, then using his tongue to part them.

Ziva returned his attentions with equal intensity. There was a fire that seemed to spark inside her that burned for more, to give more. She'd never actually felt emotions such as the ones that come to her whenever he was mentioned or when with the man. Not even with Michael, where there was always a sense that there was something darker present.

They needed air, eventually, and he gently broke off the intense kiss. "What are you doing to me, Ziva?" he said softly and kissed the tip of her nose.

Breathless, she nuzzled him affectionately. "I should be asking you the same thing," she said, licking her lips. Ziva could still taste him and it only made her want more...Something that she was unable to hide as she stared in his eyes and her fingers tangled in his shirt.

"I swear, if something's in the waters of Miami, I'm going to be so pissed," he muttered and started to kiss her again, this time he grabbed the back of her neck and caressed her back with his other hand.

"I'm not complaining," Ziva muttered as she went back to kissing - or rather making out by now - with John. Their hands began exploring each other over their clothes but the position that they were in beside each other was not quite conducive for the activity. She felt his hand wrap around the back of her thigh, pulling her onto his lap where it was certainly more comfortable and a little more surprising as she settled down over him.

"Oh..." she exclaimed.

He felt how his face turned beet red. "Yeah, sorry." he shrugged. "It's been a while." He moved her hair out of the way of his target; her beautiful neck was something he could occupy himself with.

Grinning, she shrugged. "Nothing to be sorry about," she said as her eyes rolled back when he hit a particularly sensitive spot for her. "Although," Ziva struggled to say, "I think we might want to go into the other room if this continues..."

"Do you want to take this further?" John asked softly.

She looked at him as she thought about it. "Only if you want to," she started to say before shaking her head as if to clear it. "I'm not saying I don't want to. I do, I mean I am incredibly attracted to you yes, probably more than I should be. I just cannot help how I am feeling when I am with you."

"Same here... although part of me thinks we're moving a bit too fast," he said. "But yes, Ziva. I want to take you to that bedroom." He pointed in to the general direction of it, "And screw your brains out."

"Life is fast, and we should live life," was her answer.

He got up and lifted her up from the floor, taking her in his arms and walked towards the bedroom. "You ask, and you shall receive," he grinned.


	7. Chapter 7 Mature Content

John carried Ziva into the bedroom, and clumsily kicking the door open that blocked their way. He gently laid her on top of the bed and climbed on it himself, before he started to ravage mouth again. She couldn't help but laugh through it all until they were settled back down on top of the soft comforters of the bed.

As his kisses slowly moved down from her lips to her neck, she could only think about how wonderful he felt. Not just the intimate kisses, or his body above hers, but the overall aura of the man. Soon she found herself rolling them over in the bed to where she had dominance on top of him and grinned down as her shorter frame straddled his stomach.

He looked up to her, smiling widely. She looked absolutely beautiful and her smile was wicked. Hadn't he known any better, he'd think she was up to something devilish. He tugged on her shirt to pull her closer so he could kiss her again.

Ziva wasn't having any of it. She batted his hands away before she reached for the hem of her shirt. She slowly pulled it up and over her head, sitting there for his viewing pleasure now in only her black lace bra from the waist up. Her hair fell around her shoulders in a silky cascade and her eyes glowing from the dim light that filtered in from the fireplace in the next room.

"Wow..." he managed to say as he gently started to caress her sides and worked his way up to her breasts. Her skin felt amazing underneath his hands, silky smooth and the way she looked at him made his cock twitch with anticipation. "You are so beautiful."

She leaned forward to kiss his lips before moving down along his jaw to give some tender attention to his throat that begged for her. Strong and masculine, and perfect. Once she reached the collar of his shirt, thus hindering her from further exploration of his skin with her tongue, she sat back then carefully pushed herself up so that she was standing on the bed. Unbuttoning her jeans, Ziva slowly pulled them down over her hips and thighs, revealing inch by inch of more naturally tanned and toned skin.

He swallowed hard, she **was** evil. He sat up and got rid of his shirt easily before he put his arms around her legs. He smiled up to her and then flipped her onto the bed, helping her out of the rest of her jeans. He then got onto his hands and knees, deciding to discover the taste of her. He planted a kiss on top of her foot, before he started to lick and softly kiss his way up.

Giggling as John brushed over a bit of a ticklish spot, she shook her head in disbelief. "I do not believe that it has been a while for you," Ziva grinned. "You're oooh, quite good at this..."

"You'd be surprised," he said once he reached the top of her leg and bit her inner thigh playfully before he started on her other leg. She tasted so good it drove him crazy already, and wondered how on earth he was going to keep from releasing himself before they both were ready.

As he kissed, licked, and nibbled his way up her other leg, she parted open naturally for him. Her breathing deepened to long breathy gasps whenever he came close to her center that was aflame and screaming for attention.

He noticed that once he had reached the top of her leg that her panties were soaked. "Fuck.. Ziva..." he looked up to her from his position and saw that she was trying to look as innocent as she could and shrugged with a giggle. He started to caress her stomach at the same time he started to pay attention to her torso with his tongue.

Ziva bucked her hips involuntarily which caused John's hand to slip over the fabric of her black panties. To her, the talking, the silence, the quiet dinners between them in Miami and his arrival in DC was a very long foreplay that was all leading to the moment they were at now.

"Sorry," he grinned. "I'm not done with you yet." He planted a kiss on her belly button and then released her beautiful breasts from the bra. "Hmmm..." He hummed as he started to lick the nipple of her left breast.

Her hands wove their way into his uncontrollable hair and gripped tightly. He must not have anticipated the level of her strength because he accidentally bit down on her nipple hard causing her to jump from the surprise and pain.

"Are you okay?" he said spooked. "I... didn't mean to..."

"Yes, I'm fine. Just - surprised. Actually I have a high pain tolerance so it wasn't too bad," she said petting his hair and face gently.

"Remind me not to arm wrestle with you."

Laughing she threw her head back. "I could do oh so much more," she grinned and raised an eyebrow suggestively.

"Oh..." he smiled and gently kissed the nipple he'd just accidentally bit, massaged it with his hand and moved to her other breast with his lips. Her breasts were beautifully formed, and as the rest of her skin, drove him crazy.

Ziva let her hands roam and explore what she could reach of him. Through his hair, down the sides of his face, along his neck and across his shoulders and back. She couldn't get enough of touching him and she soon would realize that it was going to be difficult to return to work once he left.

He gently squeezed her breasts as he moved up towards her collarbone, and neck. "You feel so good... you taste so good..." he muttered in her ear and then nibbled on her earlobe. He could feel her body shiver against his touch as he started to kiss his way down again, carefully avoiding her extremely wet center. John then sat back down on his knees and opened his jeans. Unlike Ziva, he didn't want to make a show out of it and got rid of them, revealing a few healing bruises here and there on his legs. Helping her out of her remaining underwear, he then kissed her tenderly while he started to gently caress the dampening cleft between her legs.

She watched as he pulled off his jeans and couldn't help but frown at the bruises she saw. Many of them familiar to her from her own past. Both being warriors of their peoples, she let out a breath and tried to get past it. Her instincts knew even then in Miami that there was more to John Sheppard than just being an Air Force pilot and she respected the secrecy. As he began to touch her warm and wet center, she let out a moan that filled the room. Squirming under his gentle touch, her lip quivered as she anxiously watched him for what he would do next.

"What would you like me to do next?" he whispered with a low voice in her ear as he started to prepare her for his cock. "Would you want me to continue this?" he asked as he brushed his thumb against her clit.

Ziva ground herself over his hand as she turned her face to lick then nip along his stubbled jaw. "I like that," she growled back to him as her nails raked across his back.

"Hmm..." he grinned. "I can tell." he licked the throbbing vein in her neck as he continued to stimulate her core.

It did not take him long to get her to lose all cognitive and coherent thought. Just before she thought she was about to break, her muscles in her lower stomach turning, he pulled his hand away leaving her whimpering at the lost attention.

He reached for his jeans and fiddled a condom wrapper out of it. He lost his shorts and after putting the condom on his length, he re-positioned himself and slowly started to enter her moist flesh.

Ziva felt her insides stretch to accommodate his size. It was surprising because she actually didn't think he would be as big as he was, not that she was complaining about what she did assume. She shifted herself on the bed for a more comfortable and complimenting angle before she nodded for him to continue when he was ready. Finding words to speak was difficult because if she did open her mouth for more than breathing, all that would come out would be the loud moans that would follow soon.

Once he made sure that she was fine after her body managed to accept all of him, he slowly started to move in and out of her. The sound of her moaning drove him wild, but he didn't want to hurt her and tried to take it easy. He was also grateful that so far, he had managed to hold it together.

As if anything felt so good, she found it hard to keep her eyes off John. The man seemed to have an uncanny sense for what she liked and where. There were brief moments where he would thrust into her and hit that sensuous spot inside that caused an uncontrollable loud moan of pleasure.

He slowly upped the pace of his thrusting into her, trying to find his own rhythm. He could tell that he was rusty, despite running around all the time and dodging weapons. He was _sexually_ out of shape. It didn't help that his foot started to cramp up. He put his hands around Ziva's waist and flipped them over so that she was sitting on top of him, impaling herself on his cock. "Crampy foot, sorry." he apologized, trying to catch his breath.

Laughing she picked up easily where he left off. "No matter. I like being on top," she grinned down to him as she did a little trick with her hips and internal muscles tightening around his incredibly hard cock inside her. Seeing his face, her grin only became more wolfish when she repeated it. "You like that?"

"Yep," he replied with a husky voice. "Fuck..." His self control was slipping.

Ziva knew that tone loud and clear. "No, no. Don't want that yet," she replied reaching around to slip the tip of her finger into his anus to press gently on his prostate. A nifty little trick she learned over the years that help keep the men from letting go too soon.

"You're evil," he yelped in surprise when she pressed on his prostate.

"Did it help?" she asked simply as she lowered herself onto his cock slowly again.

"Yeah." he nodded and put his hands around her waist. He started to caress her sides with his thumbs as she was grinding against his body.

She nodded in approval and slowly road him as she began to pick up speed back to where they were before. Sweat glistening off their skin, she leaned over to meet him in a chaste kiss between her own thrusting. In between, her tongue left lines over where she had a taste of his salty skin.

He was amazed by the way she was riding him, there was something about the way she moved, period, that made him think that Ziva was no mere NCIS agent at all, but maybe someone with special training, under cover training or something, former CIA or NSA maybe. The way she looked at him made his skin crawl in the most pleasurable way.

It was rather quickly then that Ziva's insides tightened so greatly that they held a firm hold on John's cock as she reached her climax in a sudden burst of fire ripping through her veins. Crying out, one might be able to hear her down the road from the intensity. As the waves simmered, she fought from collapsing over him so that she could continue to help him reach his break.

The look on her face when she reached her climax and the noise she made were enough to push him right over the edge. He gently pushed her down on his cock while he bucked against her, and it didn't take long for him to explode inside of her with a loud groan.

Panting, Ziva laid across his body with his dick still quite well inside her. The feeling she was still riding was so overwhelming but incredibly … there were simply no words to describe it. She raised her head to look at this man. This glorious man who made her feel so much, feelings she never thought she would experience, in such a short time. He was indescribable.

"Wow... that was..." he took a deep breath and grinned. "Wow." he nodded. He held on to the condom as she slid off off him and then discarded it into the waste basket next to the bed. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her tenderly.

"Yeah, wow is certainly a word I might use," she breathed out. "My legs feel like jelly."

They lay against each other in comfortable silence for a while and then he started to feel his foot again. "Oh... I really need to walk that off..." he grinned and planted a kiss on her forehead.

Sighing she nodded. "I also need to go clean up," she grinned as she wiggled her fingers toward her nether regions. Rolling to the side of the bed, Ziva sat up and looked around the room still in her glorious hormonal haze. Once she got her bearings, she went to make her way to the bathroom without bothering to grab anything to cover up or close the door. Hell, they just had some of the best sex in awhile! Saw, touched and tasted each other's naked body, so modesty wasn't really _necessary_.

After Ziva was done in the bathroom, he took a quick shower to clean himself up, still reeling from the mind-blowing sex he just had with Ziva, and then walked around in the bedroom to find his clothes.

"So, dinner?" he smiled widely, watching her shake her rear end as she walked into the other room.

Poking her head out she gave him a naughty smirk, "Sounds delicious."


	8. Chapter 8

"Ah, thought you were in Miami? You're looking... positively Alpine." Tony mused as he saw Ziva enter the squad room still wearing a thick layer of clothes.

Ziva grinned at him as she pulled off her coat. "Yes, we went skiing in Vermont," she replied as she sat down to her computer to check her messages from the weekend.

"Vermont?" Tony laughed. "How... quaint, you must have been bored out of your skull when you were there."

She only smiled as she worked on replying to an email. "Actually we were quite entertained the entire weekend. How has things been here?"

"Oh, you know, the usual," he shrugged. "No weekend off, unlike you."

She didn't reply and kept on with her work. A smile came to her face as she thought about the weekend and how - relaxing, it had been. Of course their bedtime activities were a great contribution towards her overall pleasant mood that even Tony could not bring down. Ziva was happy and for once she actually begun to think about her personal future rather than just what she was going to do next professionally.

_Making pasta tonight. ~ John_

"So, when are we going to meet this pilot of yours?"

Ziva heard her phone beep and looked at it. Smiling she sent a quick reply.

_Sounds delicious. I can't wait ~Ziva._

Looking back at Tony, she shrugged. "I do not know. I do not know if I could trust you to behave if you did meet him," she said simply.

"Oh come on, you know me," he smiled widely.

"Yes, I do know you Tony. That is why I do not want you two to meet quite yet."

"I'm glad you had fun on your weekend off, Ziva." Tim smiled. "You look refreshed."

She let out a sigh and smiled. "I am. It was very relaxing and I had a good time," she replied. "Is there an active case?"

"Dead Navy recruit," Tim said, "I've emailed you what we have so far."

"Ah, haven't gotten that far yet. Too much spam," she said turning back to the computer and focused on clearing out her inbox.

"Or it's clogged up with your boyfriend's emails." Tony snarked and took a bite out of his breakfast burrito.

Ziva glared at him over the monitor and shook her head. She wished that he wouldn't be so jealous and would just get over that she found someone else. He had his chance to come to her so many times over the past and never took it. Regardless of Rule #12, he had done nothing and is only putting himself through the unnecessary self punishment. For the first time, she knew what it was to be happy and intended to follow it through, wherever it may lead her.

* * *

><p>He was on the phone when Ziva came home that night after work and at the same time he was trying to make sure that his pasta wouldn't go to waste by cooking it too long. "No, I understand General," he said. "I'm sure I'll find something to do in the next few days."<p>

For some reason there was a foothold situation on Atlantis, and until it was resolved, he wasn't going anywhere. Which was fine because he could spend some more time with Ziva; but on the other hand, he really wanted to save his home too. He hung up and greeted Ziva. "Hey," he smiled. "Had fun today?"

"Oh tons," she replied tiredly as she dumped her things on her sofa. Making her way into the kitchen area, she smiled at John as he cooked. "Important call?"

"Yeah, there's something wrong with the plane that's supposed to take me back." he shrugged. "Would you mind if I stayed a couple more days?"

She was at his side taste testing his spaghetti sauce. "Mmm you can stay for the next month if you keep cooking like this for me," Ziva said, licking her lips from the hot red substance. She went back into the other room to pull off her shoes to put away as she continued to talk. "My team keeps asking me when they will get to meet you," she informed him as she went to secure her weapon in her usual hidey spot.

"Well, you could invite them over for dinner," he shrugged.

Ziva made a face. "I'm not quite ready to share you with them to be honest..."

"Then don't," he smiled widely. "I'm all yours."

Grinning she went up to him and slid her arms around his body and up, under his shirt. "Is that a promise?" she purred.

He nodded and chuckled. "Yep, but if you don't want this dinner to be burned, I'd suggest you stop what you're doing right now."

"Hm," she hummed and let go before going off to the other room to finish her usual post-work routines.

* * *

><p>"Gear up, we've got a dead marine near Fairfax." Gibbs said.<p>

Ziva immediately grabbed her bag and her gun from her drawer and ran after Gibbs barely catching up at the elevator. "Details?" she asked as she double checked the barrel of her weapon out of instinct and holstering it.

"Apparently it's been drained of blood," Gibbs shrugged.

"Interesting!" McGee smiled widely. "Is Ducky coming?"

Gibbs head-slapped McGee as an answer.

"Yea, of course he would. It's a body. Sorry Boss," he replied with the dignity to actually look ashamed for his ridiculous question.

"Abby is going to go insane with this," Ziva whispered to Tony who merely stared forward at the elevator door. She narrowed her eyes at his change in demeanor but said nothing else.

It took them 40 minutes to drive to the crime scene as Gibbs was driving. When they got to the scene, they saw with their own eyes that the local cops hadn't been imagining things; the body looked absolutely drained of its blood, the leather skin dangling off the bones.

"Abby's going to have a field day," Tony said as he started to snap some pictures of the body.

"It's impossible to get a positive ID like this, boss," McGee said. "He's not wearing his dog tags, no wallet as far as I can see..."

"Wait for Ducky," Gibbs ordered.

Ziva was staring at the withered corpse like it was something out of a science fiction movie. Thank god Tony hadn't made that connection quite yet but something about it left a sense of tingling under her skin. She looked around and there were nothing but nature and wilderness in sight. "If there is no identification on the victim then how did they know it was a marine?" she asked to no one in particular before carefully walking around the scene, studying the ground more closely.

"Jacket," Gibbs pointed out.

"You know..." Tony started, "This reminds me of this movie... and the TV show attached to it, that ridiculous show... ahh... ehm... Wormhole X-treme! Cheap special effects, bad acting... rubber bodies..."

She let out a breath as she shook her head. And it began. "That is television, this is real life," she said slowly as she noticed an odd set of footprints that led away from the scene. "Gibbs!" Ziva called out.

Gibbs nodded when he saw the footprints. "Tony, take a few shots." he pointed to the ground, looking around, waiting on Ducky's arrival. He'd probably be lost again.

Approximately fifteen minutes later, the ME van was pulling into the closest lot to where the team and the body were located. For whatever odd reason, Palmer wasn't with the older man so that might have explained the delay as it appeared that he was working alone today.

He slowly made his way up the grassy field to just inside the treeline where everyone were congregated. "What do we have here?" he asked as he knelt down beside the body. With his gloved hand, Ducky began poking at the dried, tight skin that had shrunk around the man's bones.

"We'd love to have an ID on him, Ducky, is there a wallet?" McGee asked eagerly. "Oh, and..."

Gibbs glared at McGee before returning his attention back to Ducky. "Would you like to have McGee ride with you today, Duck?"

Ducky looked up at Gibbs before shifting his gaze to McGee. "Ah yes, of course Timothy. You may look for your wallet. I could certainly use the extra pair of hands -"

"GIBBS!" Ziva called out again, but her voice was much further away. While they were focused on the body itself, she took it on herself to track the footprints she pointed out...and came across another two bodies. Withered away just like the first.

"I guess we need a bigger boat," Gibbs said upon seeing the other bodies.

"Really, boss?" Tony asked. "You're pulling a Caruso?"

Gibbs glared at Tony, then called for Ducky. This was going to be a headache of a case.


	9. Chapter 9

It wasn't for another two days before they made any sort of progress with the case. If anything, the questions kept building and there were little answers to bring that list down. Because of the state of the corpses, DNA testing was the only sure way they got identifications but that led to a great deal more of a mystery.

Why were these bodies appearing so much older than the victims? The one wasn't more than twenty years of age and looked like that of a sixty year old man. Even interest searches for related cases came up with nothing. McGee even went as far as to hack into the FBI to see if they might have something in some of their hush hush cases that they kept from even their own people at times.

Ziva and Tony were out dealing with another notification together leaving McGee and Gibbs alone in the office. McGee couldn't help but be frustrated because he was sure that there had to be _something_ somewhere that could give them even the slightest clue as to where to go. There were no drugs they could think of that would cause the aging and decomposition to that extent. Again, another mystery.

* * *

><p>This was disturbing news to say the least. One thing that was certain, General Landry was actually relieved that he hadn't sent someone in particular back through the gate yet. Calling him to his office, he thought about how he would break the news to him but decided to give it cold. "Colonel Sheppard," he greeted and closed the door of his office. "We might have a Wraith on Earth, I want you to check it out."<p>

"Sir?" he tilted his head. "I thought we had found and killed them all."

"Apparently not!" Landry said tiredly. "According to our computer geeks, Google received a few queries about 'drained' and 'aged' bodies, and I want you and your team to check it out before it gets out of hand," he continued. "Teyla, McKay and Ronon are on their way from the Pegasus Galaxy already."

"Sure, sir." he nodded. "Where have the bodies been found?"

Landry looked down at the notes on his desk. "A park in Virginia, Fairfax county. It's almost an hour from Washington DC. I'm trusting you to handle it as you and your people are the most knowledgeable about this race. You will have any resources necessary at your disposal as well."

"What agency do we have to deal with?"

To that, he couldn't help but make a face. "Navy cops. Which usually shouldn't be a problem but my superiors also gave me the heads up that the lead agent may not hand over the case willingly. They said he tends to be quite stubborn - and that's putting it nicely!"

_Navy cops, I love it,_ he thought wryly. "We might need a handful of zat-guns..." he thought out loud. "Oh, what's the lead agent's name?"

The General had to shift more papers around the mess on the desk to find the right form it was written on. "It was ehm... Gibbs. A Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Sounds like a pain in the ass if that was ever a name," he chuckled.

He tried not to choke and then die of laughter. "Yeah... I've heard of him," he scratched his head. "Might need a couple of non-disclosure agreements to make this easier."

"Do you think that's necessary? The president made it clear he wants this to keep a low profile and handled quickly."

"Believe me, General. I've heard nothing but good things about this man despite his..." he thought for a second and decided to go for the diplomatic answer, "record. I'm sure that the president knows about Agent Gibbs' capabilities."

Landry nodded and called out for Walter but the Sergeant already was coming into the room with a manila envelope stuffed to the gill with forms. "Non disclosure forms Sir," he said. "Ten copies should be enough. I have included a list of names that would be recommended due to the management of the case and resources already involved."

"What would I do without you?" Hank grinned and passed the package to Sheppard. "You should go to the Gateroom and wait for your friends. They should be here soon. Dismissed."

Sheppard nodded and started to leave. "Thank you sir."

"Be sure to tell your lady friend hello for me," he said as he sat back down to get to work.

Sheppard muttered something about having a private life and it not being so private anymore and headed towards the gate room, hoping that Teyla would have thought about bringing his gear.

Twenty minutes later, after the AR1 team had time to pack their belongings for a possible extended visit to Earth, the trio made their way through the gate. Ronon, who had been to the SGC and off the base a number of times before thought nothing about it, had his gun resting on his shoulder as he looked at Sheppard with a bored expression.

"Where's this Wraith?" he asked.

Teyla meanwhile looked around briefly to get reacquainted. She'd visited the SGC before in John's memory during their time on the misty planet their first year and then again a few years later during the IOA interviews when she was with child. "Colonel Sheppard," she smiled. "You have been quite missed at home."

"Yea, yea, yea, what's the deal? Can't you take a vacation without dragging us here, there, everywhere to get into fights and trouble?" McKay rambled on. "Where's Sam? Does she know I'm here? How do I look?"

Sheppard rolled his eyes. "I missed you guys too," he smirked. "And believe me, I had no intention of finding a Wraith on this planet after last time."

"So where is it?" Ronon spoke up wanting to get to some wraith hunting.

"Virginia," he answered. "But we'll have to stop by on a Navy yard first, we'll be working with the team who discovered the bodies and..." he looked at Ronon and shook his head. "You need a better outfit."

The Satedan looked down at his usual clothes of leather and ripped fabric that exposed his arms. For him it was convenient and comfortable. Not restrictive to movement which aided him in his fighting skills. "Whatever," he shrugged.

Teyla smiled sympathetically. "I too could use some more appropriate garments. Lieutenant Cadman was kind enough to lend me some of her civilian outfits but - she is smaller than I..."

He looked Teyla over, and tried to keep a neutral face. "I'm sure that we can find something more... suitable here on base," he said. "Something that doesn't focus on your... ehm... assets."

As they went off to become more Earth friendly, Rodney looked at John and had a haughty smile on his face. "Navy yard?" he questioned. "We'll finally get to meet your mystery girlfriend?"

"Believe me, I wish another team had encountered the bodies." John groaned as he got into his BDU's. He hated official business. Rodney, Teyla and Ronon were always lucky with their civilian clothes while on Earth, but not him. At least his clothes were more comfortable.

Once they were all ready, the Hammond beamed them to Washington DC, where a car waiting for them. "Don't piss them off, Rodney," he warned as he started to drive towards the Navy yard. He wished he had time to text Ziva for a heads up, but maybe it was better he didn't.

"What? Why would I piss them off?" he asked defensively from the backseat.

"I dunno, you have a knack of doing that," John said while he focused on the traffic.

By the time that they reached their destination, Teyla had been entirely engrossed in the level of development that the planet had reached. Never been past the walls of Stargate Command, this was truly a treat for her, regardless of the circumstances. As John pulled up to the security gate, he waved to the group to pull out their IDs, of which the SGC had ones created for Ronon and Teyla for use while on the planet.

"Head straight and turn left at the promenade, Sir," the guard directed. "When you park you will need to check in at the HQ desk to get an escort the rest of the way into the building."

"Thanks," he said and followed the guard's instructions.

"Shouldn't you give your girlfriend a heads up?" Rodney shot at him, Sheppard could tell he was annoyed.

John glared at his friend as a response. Pulling into the parking space he locked up and checked his weapon on his thigh holster. How anyone could use the waist and shoulder ones was beyond him. This was just simply more comfortable and convenient.

The foursome went through the necessary routines with checking into NCIS and a young pimply face agent came down. "You're here to see Director Vance?" he asked looking at them and cowered at the look Ronon passed.

"Yes, we are." John replied. "Including the team that's working on the dead, drained bodies case."

"Erm, okay. Sorry I don't know which team that might be. I haven't heard of any case like that but I'm sure the Director would know," he apologized. "Please follow me."

The agent led the team up through the bullpen where Gibbs sat on his phone and curiously watched the new people walk by. McGee was oblivious as he was still searching for information through the FBI archives and considered hacking into other agencies next.

Once in the office, Vance nodded his dismissal to the escorting agent. "Thank you, I will handle it from here," he said, closing the door.

* * *

><p>Downstairs, Gibbs hung up his phone and sat contemplating what he just saw. "Hey McGee," he called looking across the desk.<p>

Tim looked up with a tired and frustrated look in his eyes. "Yea Boss?"

"Pull up the surveillance footage from in here for the last fifteen minutes," he said as he came over to his desk and leaned over to watch. "The group that came in while I was on the phone. Can you ID them?"

"Something wrong?" he asked as he went to pull up the requested data.

"Yea, my gut."

While Gibbs was waiting for McGee to be done pulling up the data he requested, Ziva and Tony came back. "Well, that was a bust." Tony said and plopped down on his chair.

"Well, it was a bit funny when you stepped into some dog crap," Ziva smirked.

"Oh yes, that made my day." Tony grimaced. "Whatcha doing, boss?"

"Ah, two civilian specialists for the Air Force," McGee started.

"What is the Air Force doing at NCIS?" Ziva wondered out loud.

"Teyla Emmagen and Ronon Dex," McGee said. "Funny how they pop up so easily."

"Are those real names?" Tony quipped. "I swear that those names sound as if they belong in a science fiction movie."

"And the other two, McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"Doctor Rodney McKay, also working for the Air Force, and Lt. Colonel John Sheppard, also, Air Force." McGee read from his screen. "I don't get it, what's the Air Force doing here?"

Ziva was already at Tim's desk looking at the monitor that clearly showed John's picture. Her face was full of recognition and confusion as she too wondered about the visit. He hadn't told her that he was going to be in town, let alone at her workplace.

"Something wrong, Ziva?" Gibbs asked.

She looked at him still very much frozen. "It's him," she replied softly before turning to look up the stairs where Director Vance was standing with John Sheppard beside him, hands on his hips with a look of seriousness that she never saw before.

Vance met Gibbs eyes and pointed. "You and your team in my office now," he ordered before returning to his office with Sheppard in tow. John hadn't looked back at Ziva, but this also wasn't a social call as much as he preferred it to be.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Tony rolled his eyes. "An Air Force pilot? Looking like THAT?"

Tim was already following Gibbs and Ziva up the steps and laughed. "NCIS accepted you looking like you do," he pointed out. "Wonder what this is all about..."

"Aliens, I bet!" Tony joked.

McGee only rolled his eyes as the group filed into the office where Vance was still standing at the door to close behind them. "This is the team that has been handling the case you are here about," he started. "Gibbs, I told Colonel Sheppard here that he would have to tell you himself as I wouldn't."

Agent Gibbs was silent and turned his cool eyes onto the man. They looked at the dark mess of hair pointedly and narrowed, wondering how the Air Force would approve of such a cut. "Ya?" he questioned, remaining fairly neutral for now.

Oh, Ziva was going to be pissed with him, he suspected. "My superiors asked me if I could come here and take over the case, but I'd rather work with you. I know that's impossible without a lot of paperwork." John started. "So, to make it easier for all of us, I'd like you to hand over your case, to me," he continued coolly, not impressed by Gibbs' somewhat impressive stare.

Tony immediately took a step back. Whoever this guy was, he had no idea who he was dealing with. You just don't go up against the Great White! Ziva made a face and struggled to keep from saying something too, starting to raise her hand in warning, putting it down, and repeated.

Of course, John Sheppard knew danger. This was not. Try going up against a Wraith Queen, or ten. That's danger. So, he just stood there, looking pretty with his cocky smile waiting for Gibbs to make his move. Even Director Vance scratched his head, looking at Gibbs and Sheppard with expectation. This was going to be one hell of a pissing contest.

"Ahh, no," Gibbs smiled. "I don't think so. The victims were marines, not Air Force. My jurisdiction."

"With all due respect, what killed your people is not your jurisdiction," John said. "We know what is going on and had to ask as a formality honestly. I pretty much knew that you weren't going to agree to just hand it over without knowing all the details. Ziva told me enough about you so I came with a back up plan."

"Oh!" McKay started, "She's not a blonde, but …"

Sheppard glared at his friend.

"I'll shut up now." Rodney nodded and went to put his briefcase he brought on the table. Opening it he set out the stacks of confidentiality agreement forms for each team member that had to be about fourty pages thick.

"Ziva?" Tony repeated speaking up. "This your new boyfriend that you been hiding from us?" he asked her while she just sighed and rolled her eyes.

Waving her hand, she went to introduce the team. "Tony, McGee, and of course Gibbs," she said to John and gave him a look that he had better have some answers.

"Whatever. If you want to stay on the case with us, because we can pull it from you if we really wanted but for some odd reason Kirk here thinks that you should be read into the program, you need to sign these forms...As a formality of course," McKay babbled as Teyla and Ronon stood back looking somewhat bored as this was a common spectacle for them.

"Trust me in this case, you'd really want to sign these forms," Sheppard said, not impressed by Gibbs. Tony and McGee had already stepped back towards the door, and even the NCIS Director looked amused. "A whole new world will open."

Unsure of how else to convince these people, John looked back Vance who knew what the whole situation now was. "The information that they want to share with you is highly classified. I knew about it from SecNav when I took office but I didn't consider it a possibility until the Colonel came today. If you don't sign those forms, I am inclined to give them the entire case with evidence and reports," he said.

"I'll sign," Ziva replied in hopes that her move would encourage the others of her level of trust in the man.

"Ziva?" Gibbs questioned, looking at her as she went to begin signing what she needed in the packet of papers.

She looked at him and nodded. "If you trust me... I trust Sheppard," she said firmly.

McGee accepted that as enough and went over to sign off as well. The only two still holding out were Gibbs and DiNozzo.

"I know that you probably are annoyed by me and my team, intruding on your playground." Sheppard directed himself towards Gibbs, knowing that this Tony was sort of Gibbs' lap dog. "But it is necessary and if you don't sign these papers, you are off this case, and we'll get all the information we need from Agents David and McGee." He was still standing relaxed as ever, with his hands in his pockets, not looking away from Gibbs.

"Boss has a problem with authority," Tony said, which earned him a glare from Gibbs.

"Yeah, I'd be pissed too if someone younger than me would try and take over _my_ case." John nodded.

The older agent still was debating whether or not to sign. Anything that required that kind of paperwork was nothing but trouble. However, the fact that two of his agents being to readily trusting to the stranger... He wasn't a stranger to Ziva though. Looking at her and seeing the unwavering support that she now displayed... Nodding he went over to get it over with, signing what he needed to before throwing the pen down on the table.

Following suit, Tony silently but reluctantly signed. He didn't want to be left off the case and at least by staying on he could keep an eye on the surfer boyfriend. Once all was done and settled, Gibbs turned back to Sheppard.

"Talk." 


	10. Chapter 10

"Alright, is anyone familiar with the work we do at Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado?" McKay started.

"Ehm, sort of?" McGee replied. "Although I never really believed that there's such a thing as deep space telemetry. We've got NASA for that."

"Ah, you're the smart one," McKay nodded appreciatively. "Anyway, to make a long story short, we physically go further into space than NASA by means of a Stargate," he continued. "A few years ago we managed to go to a whole new galaxy, and we encountered the Wraith."

"The Wraith are vicious, they cull entire planets to feed themselves." Teyla jumped in.

"This sounds so much like _Wormhole X-treme_," Tony mused.

"Ah yes, plausible denialbility." McKay nodded. "Anyway, about a year ago, we managed to stop the Wraith invasion of Earth, and we _thought_ we had gotten rid of them all."

Gibbs didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. These people were perfect for being admitted into a mental hospital.

Ziva sat there staring into space. It certainly explained John's behaviour the night they watched that movie. She wasn't sure what to make of it still. When he was 'out of the country', he wasn't joking. The man was in another freaking galaxy!

Abby and Ducky had both been called up as well for the lecture and after all had been said, they signed without hesitation and they got down to business. The information was so unbelievable, yet everyone was pretty much engrossed in the story.

"Let me get this right," Ziva said, closing her eyes. "You two are aliens? But you are so - human!"

"The people that created the Stargates, in a way actually created us as well. It's too long of a story to get into and I highly doubt your feeble Navy cop brains could handle it," Rodney rattled, ignoring the glares he received.

Sheppard smiled and put his hands behind his head. "I got to apologize for him. He tends to forget that not everyone could have two PhDs and save the galaxy every day."

"Two galaxies," the scientists corrected before turning back to his papers. "Anyway, your bodies. Wraith. We need to hunt it down and kill it. End of story."

"Thank god. Can we go do that now?" Ronon replied after he seemingly fell asleep standing against the wall.  
>"I doubt that an alien killed our men." Gibbs said stoically, keeping the rest of his thoughts - that they were mental and that his team needed a psychological re-evaluation - to himself.<p>

Rodney dug in his briefcase and held up photos with bodies similar to the ones the NCIS agents found, looking very pleased with himself.

Pulling them over for a look, Ducky frowned. "Well that is certainly interesting. I have never come across something of this magnitude and I have seen a lot in my day my boy," he replied fascinated.

Gibbs looked at the images and even he couldn't hide the look of disgust. "What does this - wraith look like?"

"More importantly, how do you kill it?" Ziva said looking at John's friends.

"Well, obviously it's been feeding... a lot," Rodney frowned. "Even if we manage to find the Wraith, it's going to be a bitch to kill."

"We've got these," John held up his Zat like a kid in a candy store

"I've got this," Ronon cocked his energy gun. "I think that your Earth guns with the bullets will only tickle it."

Ziva leaned forward already thinking up fighting strategies in her head, the Mossad training kicking in. "Okay I get that, but it is possible to bring these things down, right?"

John looked at her and smiled. "Oh yeah."

"Good. Let's do this then," she replied standing. "The sooner we get rid of it, the sooner I get my answers from you," she pointed at him.

Rodney laughed. "Oh Sheppard, you're pussy whipped already!"

Sheppard let his head fall back and took a deep breath before reaching out to head-slap him. Gibbs' eyes went large and even smiled with respect. _Maybe he wasn't so bad after all_, he thought.

"So, how about we follow you guys to Virginia, and start this Wraith hunt?" he said, as if Rodney hadn't said anything.

"Let's go," the lead agent nodded. The team left the room leaving Vance behind watching them. Sighing, he rounded his desk and pulled one of the agent's file out to look it over before beginning to write. Gibbs wasn't going to be pleased with him for this.  
>Rodney insisted on riding along with Gibbs and his team, which would make the car very crowded so Ziva joined Sheppard in his car along with Ronon and Teyla in the back seat. "Well, this is weird," Ronon deadpanned.<p>

John glared at Ronon through the rear view mirror before he spoke. "I'm sorry you had to find out about my work this way," he said to her.

"It is understandable," Ziva replied. "We all have our secrets that we must keep to ourselves."

He nodded and concentrated on the road, not exactly knowing what to say about that. She had no idea how big this secret was. John wondered who the hell taught Gibbs to drive. Not only was he speeding, he was breaking too late and a few times he nearly rear-ended the other vehicle. "Damn." he muttered, knowing fully well that McKay would probably have thrown up in the car.

She gave him a sly smile knowing what he was speaking of. "You get used to it," she said. "Tony says that I'm worse, but I don't see it."

I'm used to crazy driving... but this is worse than crazy." He braked for the millionth time when Gibbs decided to take a corner without the turn signals.

"He's testing you," Ziva shrugged. "It means he likes you."

"Poor McKay," Ronon grinned.

"Yeah well, it looks as if he wants to get himself killed, and us too!" John exclaimed.

Looking out the window, Ziva noticed the signs. "We are almost there. Not much longer."

Their car pulled up to the park just ask Rodney's door flew open and he fell out to the ground, kissing the pavement. "Oh thank god I lived!"

John couldn't help but laugh. "You travel to another galaxy, visit other planets, and you can't handle one car ride?"

"Shut up! That wasn't a car ride! That was worse than a four year old that planned a rollercoaster in an amusement park! It's begging for trouble!"

Sighing, John shook his head.

"This park isn't dense enough for a Wraith to hide." Teyla noticed. "He must be living in one of your houses."

Ronon was already off trying to find tracks, but it had been two days since the last body was found, and the tracks were either dried up or gone. "It looks as if he's heading out of the park."

"We can't just go door to door to ask if someone saw something strange." Tony remarked. "Do you know how much time that takes?"

"Yep." John replied. "I hate to say it but maybe the best way to actually find him is to wait him out."

"Any idea why he likes to kill marines?"

"Beats me." Rodney shrugged, holding up his life signs detector.

Tony looked thoughtful. "Maybe they just taste better."

"Don't be ridiculous." Rodney rolled his eyes. "I think I saw a sign somewhere along the road that there's a country club for Army and Navy here?"

"That makes sense, if they use this park to go home, then of course, there would be a chance of getting one of your marines killed," Teyla answered.

Ziva had wandered away from the group as she stared into tree line. She might not have the wraith gene like Teyla does, but her Mossad ninja training certainly offered her a sixth sense about danger. Pulling out her gun, she started to go deeper into the park towards the river.

Tony for the most part kept an eye on her. "Crazy ninja is picking up something," he said as he went after her.

"Ninja?" John asked looking at Gibbs who only shrugged. If Ziva didn't tell her boyfriend she was formerly with Mossad, it wasn't his place to say. He would just have to figure out that the man was sleeping with a skilled assassin.

"Teyla, Ronon, you stay with Gibbs' team. Make teams if you have to, but don't let them wander off alone," John said and looked at Gibbs. "No offence, sir, but my people are more experienced dealing with the Wraith." He pointed at McKay and then into the general direction that Ziva and Tony had gotten off to.

Rodney looked at him wide eyed. "Why can't I just stay here?"

"Because you're a pain in the ass, come on."

"Oh. Well that's a good reason as any," he grumbled as he followed Sheppard.


	11. Chapter 11

"I hate it when people wander off." John muttered as he and Rodney finally met up with Ziva and Tony.

"Amateurs." Rodney nodded.

"I heard that." Ziva smirked and pointed at what looked to be a fresh set of foot prints. "What time do these... Wraith come out?"

"They're space vampires," Rodney explained it as dumb as he could. "Aliens, sucking the life out of you with their hand, who, unlike the vampires in the myths, can go out in day light and there's no real time attached to it."

"It's just very hungry for some reason," John added.

"Do they at least sparkle?" Tony quipped.

Both Rodney and John didn't get that particular joke. "They will for a bit when we shoot them with these." Rodney pointed at their Zat guns.

"What are you going to do? Squirt them with water?" the agent asked.

Ziva rolled her eyes and poked him in the side hard on her way back down the hill to meet them halfway only to find John look at her with an expression that was a mix of concern and frustration.

"Until this is over, _do not_ go off on your own like that," John said. "You have no idea how dangerous those things are!"

Tony snorted. "Evidently you have no idea how dangerous our little ninja chick is here," he laughed.

She glared back at her partner before turning back to Sheppard. "I can handle myself. Besides I thought I saw something and didn't want to lose sight."

"Ziva, you don't want to take these things on by yourself," John said slowly. "I don't want you to get hurt, or any other person of your team, it's hard to convince the Wraith to undo what they've done."

Ziva didn't actually respond but did hold back to let John take the lead. "I believe it went that way," she said. "There is a small rock formation over there that could provide shelter."

"Yeah, well, I don't see any life signs around us apart from us and the team behind us." Rodney snapped, getting impatient. "And who's to say that they'll return to this park anyway? There are different parks around."

"We can investigate the area to see if there are indications that it has taken refuge here," she pointed out.

"She's right, Rodney." John nodded and mentioned for Ziva to lead the way.

"Thank you," she smiled and turned back up the hill to make her way towards the creek that led up to where she suspected the creature might be hiding.

Meanwhile, while the guys followed her, Ronon and Teyla led Gibbs and his group where the Satedan suspected the Wraith to have gone. Teyla continuously looked around confused, reaching out with her senses.

Ronon looked at her and rested his blaster on his shoulder. "You got anything?"

She was silent for a moment before taking in a deep breath. "I am not sure. There is certainly _something_ but I cannot be sure of which direction."

Gibbs decided not to ask what was going on, instead he was just walking around with McGee following him. "Why would they come back to this park anyway?" McGee asked. "They probably know we've found the bodies."

"They don't care," Ronon replied. "The average person stands no chance against them and it would take a hell a lot of your bullets to bring even one to it's knees before they heal themselves."

"And after a Wraith has recently fed, they are even stronger," Teyla pointed out.

"Yeah but why would they return here, they probably know we're looking for them," McGee responded.

"They know that Atlantis isn't on Earth anymore. They'll show up," Ronon said gruffly before heading off into another direction based on the tracks he just picked up.

"Wait, what?" McGee responded. "Atlantis? As in the lost city of Atlantis?"

Teyla and Ronon looked at each other. They thought Rodney would have explained that part during the car ride but evidently not. "We will let Dr. McKay and Colonel Sheppard explain to you when we complete our mission," she said diplomatically.

"Your Doctor McKay kept talking about how awesome he was, it drove the boss nuts," McGee pointed at Gibbs.

"Rodney tends to do that." Teyla smiled kindly and then looked at Agent Gibbs, who was looking at something. "Did you find something, Agent Gibbs?"

"No," Gibbs replied. "Just someone's dog tags."

McGee immediately made his way over and started to take pictures of the area Gibbs was pointing at before Gibbs lifted the dog tags and put them in an evidence bag. "Petty Officer Nathan Bishop." McGee said, "One of our bodies."

"McGee, send Abby a text message, to look for same sort of bodies in other areas."

"Right, maybe we can find a pattern, and maybe we can find out where they might be hiding," McGee smiled, and Ronon chuckled, shaking his head. "What?"

"You're not dealing with humans," he pointed out.

He had noticed it before, but there was something about the way Ziva moved; she wasn't making a sound when she walked, and she sort of looked like Teyla when Teyla would track something, like a cat stalking her prey. It was hard not to get turned on by it.

Rodney looked smug when there wasn't anything near the rocks. "Told you so."

Ziva glared at John's friend as she began to climb up to the top of the rock formation where it would give her a better view of the overall area. From there she could see through areas of trees that led back all the way to the parking areas. If anyone was there, they would be able to see much more than they had from the ground for a better defensive response.

"What was that?" Tony asked spooked.

"What was what?" John answered.

"I thought I saw something," Tony squinted. "It must be gone now."

"Sheppard," Rodney pointed at his life signs detector. "Something's coming in from the South, entering the park, can't tell if it's a Wraith or not."

"Let's go," he nodded and helped Ziva off her rock.

Ziva shook her head. "Wait, I think I can see it..." she said squinting and moving to a better angle. "Looks like someone forgot that Halloween isn't for several more months..."

He blinked, did she just see the Wraith? They were minutes away from the South entrance! Maybe he needed glasses. "Ziva, get down from there."

"Sheppard, another one's coming in from the same entrance, not sure if it's Wraith, but we have to hurry." Rodney tugged on John's vest.

Looking at Ziva, it didn't seem like she was going to move any time soon and he just took Tony with him while holding the life signs detector. "You stay with her," he told his friend and started to run towards the Wraith. "Teyla, Ronon, we have one," he radioed his team mates. "Keep your eyes open."

"Received," Teyla replied over the radio and hoisted her weapon to a ready position as she turned to take in the surroundings. Looking at Gibbs and his young agent, she nodded towards their sidearms. "If you come into contact with it, fire at its' head and don't stop shooting."

"So, we have to empty our clips in that Wraith thingy?"

"And hope it dies." Ronon nodded. "Should we get separated, but we've got your back."

Gibbs nodded in acceptance. He believed him. He took out his gun and double checked the chamber and patted his coat to make sure had spare clips with him after they had left the office earlier. "You're in charge here," he said simply and followed the two alien humans through the trees.

As John and Tony headed towards where the life sign was coming towards the group, Ziva hopped down after seeing something just off to the right where the two men where heading and went full speed. She was running faster than the guys were but John managed to keep an eye on her somehow. All of a sudden, the Wraith stepped out from behind a tree. "Ziva! Watch out!"


	12. Chapter 12

John readied his Zat to shoot the Wraith, but he was still too far away to have a good aim and was afraid he'd hit Ziva instead. He saw how Ziva squatted down and pulling the legs from underneath the Wraith by one well-placed kick of her own. She jumped back and so did the Wraith, back on its feet, not dazed at all.

Her punches were not causing much of an impact against the much taller and stronger creature. It was almost like fighting Damon Werth again. She was focused on trying to get a solid move in that didn't land and made her lose her footing for a bit, when the wraith's arm came back around, it struck her in the face. Ziva went straight down before the monster grabbed her by the neck, effectively blocking the way between them and Sheppard.

"Ziva!" Tony yelled and Sheppard grabbed him by the arm to stop him from running towards the Wraith and kill himself by doing so.

"Let her go," John's voice was surprisingly pleasant while aiming his Zat at the Wraith, but it was currently using Ziva as a human shield. He looked at the Wraith, he wasn't much taller than Todd, and it had similar markings as the Wraith on one of the ships they had gotten rid of._Damn darts_, he thought.

"You are no match for me, human."

John saw Rodney walking around them in a circle big enough for the Wraith not to notice. _Don't do anything stupid, McKay, or I'll kill you myself,_he thought. "Maybe not, especially since you had a big dinner," he shrugged. "But right now, your current dinner isn't getting any air, I doubt you like dead prey."

"What are you doing?" Tony hissed at him. "You're pissing it off!"

"Shut up," John told Tony. "I know what I'm doing."

"If that's what it takes to stop you from killing me, why would I care?" The Wraith tilted his head. "This Earth of yours is a brand new feeding ground, me and my brethren have been feeding for months, we never had so much to eat before."

"I'm in position," Rodney's hushed voice came through the radio. "You do know that if he still holds her when I shoot once, she'll get hit too, right?"

John nodded for an answer, knowing Rodney would see it from where he was. "We don't have to kill you. In fact, we had no intention to," John said. "We'd be more than willing to take you back to Pegasus with us and reunite you and your brothers with the rest of your group."

"It's holding Ziva and you're trying to negotiate?"

John wished that Tony would shut up, his hissing wasn't helping much.

"I do not believe you," the Wraith said. "We are trespassing on YOUR Earth, why would you let us live?"

"Because we're not savages," John said and lowered his Zat, hoping Tony would do the same, it wasn't like they had a clear shot anyway. "We just don't want you to feed off our people."

The Wraith was quiet for a while, and Sheppard could see that Ziva was struggling to breathe, trying to kick her way out of the Wraith's hold. Knowing that McKay soon had to shoot, he regretted the next thing he was going to ask. "Ziva, do you trust me?"

She managed to get a glance to him from the corner of her eye. Her hands tightened around the monster's cold wrists and squeezed her eyes shut. "Do it," she got out, but just barely as the oxygen she desperately needed wasn't filling her lungs to make her words carry stronger.

"Alright Rodney," he said in his radio. "Once, and then I'll pull her out, then get rid of it."

"Got it."

It was as if Tony was watching a Dancing competition. John moved towards the Wraith and Ziva as McKay shot that energy weapon of theirs, knocking both the Wraith and Ziva out. Sheppard then pulled her away from the Wraith and with two shots more, the Wraith was gone. Tony couldn't move though, Sheppard was holding Ziva in his arms, trying to wake her up. _Damnit_, Tony thought, because he wasn't just holding Ziva as in holding, but he was holding her like he really cared.

"Ziva," John caressed her hair as he had taken her onto his lap.

Rodney frowned as he walked up to John. "Um, Sheppard? I hate to say this but we need to move. I got another two lifesigns heading this way and two more near the other group," he said quietly. "Erm, is she okay?"

"I don't know," he snapped, more angry with himself for letting Rodney shoot Ziva, but it had to be done. He got up and took her in his arms. "We all deal with our first Zat guns differently."

"She's still breathing though, isn't she?" Tony asked worried.

"Yeah." Rodney said, "She was basically toasted for a bit until the Wraith let her go, it's just a mild shock she needs to get out of."

It was another two minutes when she moaned, rolling her head onto John's shoulder. "I feel like I was hit by a bus," she grumbled before slowly lifting her head to look around. "What happened?"

"You got hit by a Zat gun," John grinned. "Welcome back, you had me worried for a while there."

She made a face as she struggled to get up and stand on her own. "I never want to go through that again...You really deal with those things regularly?" she asked holding her head. This was going to be one motherfucking headache.

"Ah yes," Rodney nodded. "Although we don't have Zat's back home, they're too over-powered and we're the cool guys."

"I can't believe you shot her," Tony glared at Rodney.

"Technically, I shot the Wraith. I can't help it that it was holding onto Sheppard's squeeze."

"Relax Tony, I am fine," she said, rubbing her neck. "We need to get to the others..."

Rodney began going off a mile a minute. "Nope, no can do. I hope you're strong enough to fight because we got two more coming in hot about 2 minutes off our 10 o'clock!"

With ease, John shot both Wraith in a matter of seconds, finding them writhing on the ground, he then shot them again and again, until there wasn't anything left. "These guns make things way too easy."

"Yea well you know the SGC won't let us have any. We can keep the Wraith weapons but they would never allow these to go back with us. We should start a petition," McKay said as he started back towards where the last known location was of their friends.

"I don't like these guns despite the fact they're awesome," John said, following Rodney. "I like a challenge."

"No, you like to get yourself killed, that's a whole different story," McKay rolled his eyes.

Tony snorted. "Hey Ziva, looks like your boyfriend likes suicide missions as much as you do!"

She turned and glared at him. As grateful as she was for his rescue in Somalia, that was still an extremely tender subject for her. Details of that assignment, what she endured, she continued to refuse to disclose even to the psychiatrist. "It is what it is," she echoed her old words. "We do what we need to do to get the job done."

John shot a fleeting glance at Ziva, wondering what was going on in her head and what she was talking about. But, she was entitled to her secrets, just like he had kept this from her (well, he had been legally bound to keeping the Stargate program a secret), and whatever she had gone through or was still going through, it must have been hard on her.

"Colonel Sheppard, we just killed 3 more Wraith," Teyla's voice came over the radio. "I am not certain if there are more."

"Good job, Teyla, we're on our way to you," he replied.


	13. Chapter 13

Once they were sure that there were no Wraith anymore, cheating a little with letting the _Hammond_ scan the immediate area, they drove back towards DC. This time, Teyla offered herself up to the Gibbs style of driving so that Rodney wouldn't complain and that John could spend some more precious time with his Ziva.

It was getting dark, and instead of trying to keep up with Agent Gibbs, John took his time with Ziva's assistance in directions back to the yards.

"So what happens now?" she asked softly, partly with the uncertainty of their relationship now that she knows his deepest secret.

"We drop you off at the Navy Yard, talk to your Director and head home," John said. "Although I wouldn't mind coming back here to see you again," he said in a more pleasant tone.

Looking over at him, she blinked. "So this won't affect us?" she confirmed.

"Why should it affect you? He still gets back to Earth, you talk in e-mail, you both get on like bunnies in heat whenever he comes to see you and all is well in the world now can we please go home?" Rodney whined.

"Or are you scared, now that you know what I do for a living?" John rolled his eyes at Rodney and kept an eye on the road. He really wished that there were more lamp posts because he couldn't see a damn thing.

Ziva shrugged. "We both lead dangerous lives, but I am afraid for you," she admitted. "I suppose I'm just worried about being hurt if we get ourselves too invested now."

"Hurt how?" he asked.

She was silent but the look she passed him spoke volumes.

"Look, I might do stupid things," he shrugged. "It's not like I'm out to kill myself, it's a job hazard. For all we know, a car could pop up in front of us when we go back to our rendez-vous point and kill us instantly in the crash."

Ziva made a face considering that she had plenty of experience with that as well. "I suppose we could just take it slow and see where it leads us then," she answered diplomatically.

"Good," John smiled.

"To be honest," Rodney sighed, "And I hate to admit this," he continued, "but ever since Sheppard met you in Miami he's easier to get along with, he even doesn't mind doing his paperwork!"

Ronon snorted. "That's a fact."

"Shut up," John retorted.

She chuckled and shook her head. The rest of the ride to the navy yard was fairly pleasant with Rodney sharing more stories about the team and especially John's escapades in the Pegasus Galaxy that had Ziva laughing. She was almost disappointed to be back at the office and sighed as such as they made their way back up to report in.

"You took your time getting back," Gibbs said to Sheppard.

"I didn't want to die," he retorted and smirked. "I kept myself to the speed limit, so what we got back 10 minutes later than you?"

Gibbs looked at Ziva who only gave him an equal look back and smiled. "Are we to meet with Director Vance now?" she asked trying to diffuse the situation.

Gibbs nodded. "Your friends have to go back home," he said, adding in thought that he only wished that this John Sheppard had a normal job so he could be with Ziva all the time, she needed him in a different way than she needed NCIS to keep her sane. He had seen a different side of Ziva today, despite the situation she was more relaxed than ever, as to what she was like before Somalia.

It was late, and John thought it was nice of Director Vance to stay so they could debrief and go back home, even if it meant saying 'goodbye' to Ziva for a while.

On the landing above the bull pen where the group were talking, Vance stood watching them. Taking a deep breath, he called out. "Agent David, my office," he said before looking over at Gibbs and Sheppard. "Colonel, if you could wait around for a little while longer. I'd like to speak with you and Agent Gibbs when I'm done with Miss David."

Ziva looked at Gibbs, as if he might have an answer to why Vance wanted to see her alone. Unfortunately he appeared just as baffled, even if he was able to hide it better. He also narrowed his eyes up at Vance who was already walking back to his office with strong suspicions of what might be happening.

She left them and headed up to the office and quietly stood before the Director's desk as she waited for him to speak. The nerves getting the best of her did so first. "Director, I should inform you that my relationship with Colonel Sheppard in no way affected my performance in the field..." she started before he cut her off.

"That's not why you here," Vance said, knowing fully well that the next thing he was going to say was hard on him, but probably even harder on Ziva. "SecNav and Homeworld Security and even the IOA, which is some sort of board of people who have some leverage on things we and other agencies are doing, have been talking about having one or more NCIS agents as agents afloat for special projects, not like when Agent DiNozzo was an agent afloat, but for something a little bit more special."

She was balling her fists, that wasn't such a good sign. "The thing is, I know that recent events haven't been easy on you lately, and that does affect the team," Vance continued, and then waited for an answer of Ziva, which - he suspected - wouldn't be so diplomatic as he was trying to be.

"Are you firing me?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"No, of course not," Vance started, "You've worked your butt of to stay here, I'm not going to fire you because you've hit a rough patch."

Ziva stared him down, her heart beating rapidly. "So then what are you saying?" she asked carefully as things were slowly beginning to register in her mind.

"You'll be the first intergalactical agent afloat," Vance said, "Which sadly means you have to spend more time with Colonel Sheppard, and you'll have to leave your own team behind."

She blinked in shock. Was this really happening? She couldn't come up with any words except to slowly nod in acceptance. It was certainly an opportunity that she wasn't about to pass up for the sake of staying with Gibbs and the team.

"May I ask," she started once she found her voice. "What made you select me for this?"

"You know why," Vance started, "You're on the best NCIS team we have, but could you really see DiNozzo or McGee out there? Not to mention, if I'd send Gibbs, he'd kill me. That, and your Mossad training, made me select you."

Ziva nodded in consent. "I will gather my belongings then," she said. "Would you like me to send Gibbs and the Colonel to see you?"

"Please," Vance nodded.

She nodded again before leaving. The Director's secretary already had a box to give her and a quiet congratulations for the woman's new assignment. Ziva made her way down the stairs in a shocked silence still as she made her way to her desk.

"The Director wants to see you, Gibbs, and John," she said staring at Gibbs who eyed the box tentatively.

"Ziva?" Tony walked after her, "Did Vance fire you? He can't fire you! I mean, you've done so much for NCIS and yourself lately and he just can't fire you!"

She looked at him and shook her head. "I was not fired. He is transferring me," she said as she began to clear out her desk. Opening her drawer on the side, she began throwing her personal items into the box like deodorant and a couple unused condoms.

Tony blinked when he saw the contents of her drawer. _Condoms, really?_ he thought.

"Well that sucks," McGee joined them, "Why?"

Ziva shrugged as she continued packing. "He seems to think that I am the best suited for the location. It is an opportunity that any agent would not pass up." In went a spare pair of pants and underwear.

"You had that in your drawer?" Tony blurted, "No wait, that's not the point, why is he breaking us up? We work as a team!"

"You would have to ask him Tony. But you know as well as I we will not stay together forever," she pointed out.

"You don't care that he's taking you away from the spot you've fought so hard for?"

She shook her head as she threw more things into the box. "I fought to live and work for NCIS. It does not necessarily mean that it was exclusively for this team," she argued back. "If the situation was reversed, not even you would object to this assignment."

"Well it must be a helluvah job then," Tony sulked, then bear-hugged her. "It's okay to show us that you'd at least miss us."

Ziva returned the hug and sighed. "I will email you all as often as I can. You know that you are my family," she answered as she saw Gibbs and John coming back down the steps.

"Sorry Ziva, it's out of my hands," Gibbs said. "But I'll keep trying to get you back."

She smiled and shook her head. "It's alright Gibbs. We knew that something like this would happen sooner or later. I will miss you and remember the rules," she said moving around the desk to hug him.

"You'd better," Gibbs said.

"I'll try to keep Abby from trying to kill the Director," McGee said and hugged Ziva as well. "You know how she gets."

Laughing Ziva nodded. "I'll be sure to stop in to talk to her myself. If you would tell Ducky for me, I'd appreciate it..."

Sheppard and his group had been standing back from the proceedings watching quietly. Rodney turned to John confused, "What's going on?" he asked as quietly as he could.

"Stupid Homeworld Security and IOA, that's what," John replied in the same tone of voice as Rodney. "They decided that we need an Agent Afloat."

"Wait, so you mean...?"

He nodded. "It's not that I'd want her to, it's just weird."

"But at least now you would get to pursue the possibilities of your relationship now," Teyla smiled approvingly.

He didn't answer Teyla, and just watched how Ziva said goodbye to her friends. General Landry had been on the phone when Sheppard and Gibbs were up in Vance's office, and Ziva would get a day or two to pack her belongings and whatnot before they all would head back to Pegasus.

When all was said and done, Ziva and Sheppard went down to the lab to say goodbye to Abby. While she could have done it by herself, Abby had always insisted on meeting John since she first learned of him and the extra presence helped Ziva to be pulled away easier from her friend's tight hugs. With many promises upon promises to stay in touch, the Atlantis team and Ziva left to finish her packing at her apartment to begin the two week trip to her new home.

The lost city of Atlantis.


End file.
